Former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry’s admiration for Washington Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs is unabashed. No small part of the reason is that they both are equally serious Christians. “It’s pretty hard to hate the Redskins with Joe Gibbs as the coach,” Landry told a Fellowship of Christian Athletes fund-raiser at the Touchdown Club recently.

Chick-fil-A CEO Truett Cathy’s round face, gentle smile and relaxed southern accent depart from the stereotype of the harried executive. But his easy manner should not be mistaken for a lack of determination. Behind it lies a vigorous faith rooted in the belief that succeeding in the fast-food chicken business is God’s mission for his life.

In a day when “miracles” seem old-fashioned and out-of-touch, George Gallup Jr. says he keeps finding them in his polling data. Gallup’s polling has explored America’s political and economic beliefs, as he puts it, “ad nauseum.” But his number-crunching also has helped lead him to something else: a deep spiritual experience.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter first heard about Habitat for Humanity when two neighbors volunteered for one of its overseas projects. In 1984, the Carters went to New York to convert a dilapidated six-story building into homes for residents in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Since then, the Carters have led thousands of volunteer builders on “blitz-building” work camps. Almost 150 houses have been built by Carter-led teams in the United States and Mexico.

A 1988 Gallup poll cited Elizabeth Dole as one of the 10 most admired women in the world. Yet few could imagine in 1975 that the woman who combined Harvard Law School brains, Southern grace and a perfectionist passion for public service was missing something.

Four times Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green has entered the “NFL Fastest Man” competition, and four times he has won. But in 1988, Green officially entered another race with much higher stakes than anything the NFL can muster.

Kay and Charles James camped out at a hospital in Richmond, watching and praying for their daughter, Elizabeth, who had slipped into a coma 2½ weeks earlier, suffering from a disease that doctors said is usually fatal after three weeks. But then the 3½-year-old woke up, uttering the words “Where’s my mommy?”